There are a variety of customer affinity programs where customers can earn reward points through the purchase of goods and services from a supplier and can later redeem those points for additional goods or services. Well-known examples of customer affinity programs include airline “frequent flyer” programs and credit card “reward” programs. In a frequent flyer program, a customer receives frequent flyer “miles” for traveling on a particular airline which can be redeemed for future travel on the airline. Similarly, in a credit card reward program, reward “points” or “dollars” are earned by use of a credit card to make purchases which can be redeemed through the credit card company for goods or services from a variety of suppliers.
Customer affinity programs, as the name implies, are programs that suppliers of goods or services use to develop and maintain customer loyalty. Customers earn reward points through purchase of the goods or services from a supplier. Suppliers frequently offer promotions where additional points are given based on certain criteria (e.g. volume or types of purchases). The customers can track their reward points through, for example, periodic mailings from the supplier or on the supplier's internet site. Watching reward points grow creates customer excitement and helps to develop and maintain customer loyalty. Customers are further encouraged to continue using a supplier by the goods or services that can be obtained by redeeming reward points.